THE FILE ON STORMY FOSTER
A Cartoon Movie Serial in Twelve Chapters
CHAPTER SEVEN:
“LESBIAN STONEWALL”
TIME AND PLACE:
HAWAII, 1990 (and in flashback, 1943)
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
FREDDY BANG, the STUDIO OWNER
IRENE BANG, the CLUB OWNER
DIAMOND FAWS, the DEMAGOGUE
STORMY FOSTER, the GREAT DEFENDER
SNOOKS, the PARROT
It's Irene again, continuing the story of Stormy Foster. He came to Hawaii from a place called Pajaro Island, gifted with incredible power over the natural elements; but that wasn’t the most remarkable thing about him. What made him so special was the uplifting message he brought to Hawaiian Gay people. This happened nearly three decades before the Stonewall rebellion. With help from my husband Basil, my brother Freddy and me, Stormy helped found the modern Gay Rights movement in America!
But lest I be accused of ignoring his predecessors, I want to give proper credit to Henry Gerber and Reverend John Graves. Historians identify them as the first American Gay activists; in 1924, these brave men launched a fledgling Gay organization in Chicago, only to have the police shut it down almost immediately.
I don’t want to brag, but we succeeded where Gerber and Graves failed. Stormy Foster headed no organization, and he wore a mask when advocating for Gay people; but he took bolder action than anyone who’d come before him. Today, everybody talks about how radical ACT-UP is, but Stormy’s aggressive direct action predates them by forty years! His work predates that of Harry Hay, Lisa Ben, Frank Kameny and other American Gay liberation pioneers.
Let me tell you more about his activities in costume. First The Great Defender began confronting anti-Gay vigilantes. Then he held secret consciousness-raising seminars with Lesbians and Gay men. This was followed by pirate radio broadcasts. As beneficial as these groundbreaking efforts were, we decided that they weren't enough: An even higher level of visibility was called for.
In the Spring of 1943, The Defender was still widely believed to be an urban legend. Stormy wanted to put those rumors to rest once and for all, so he began appearing before the general public; but these high-profile appearances weren’t just a bid for attention. Stormy felt he wasn’t being true to his mission unless he actively advocated for Gay people every time he assumed his costumed identity.
DEFENDER OF LGBT HAWAIIANS
Together he, Freddy and I conceived of Gay Pride slogans. We wrote them. There weren’t many: “Love Being A Lesbian” was one. Another was “Proud to Be Bisexual”. That might have been the earliest use of those terms. We tailored a slogan for the native Hawaiian community: “Mahu Is Not A Dirty Word”. The one Stormy used most frequently was “Gay Is Good”, which was adopted decades later by Dr. Frank Kameny of the Mattachine Society. I never minded him taking credit for the phrase, but he only popularized it; we invented it in 1943!
We were using terminology for sex and gender-diverse people that was very advanced for those days; the words that were in general use, like “queer”, "dyke", “sodomite” and “pervert” were far too negative to convey Gay Pride. I still feel that way, even though today’s activists have revived some of those old slurs; they say they’re “reclaiming our names”, whatever the hell that means. They were not our names! They were demeaning insults, and self-respecting Gay people never claimed them. In his radio broadcasts, Stormy spent a lot of time explaining and familiarizing listeners with the new, more positive terms that we championed.
THE FIRST GAY PRIDE SLOGANS
And it wasn’t just on the radio that they were disseminated. When The Great Defender made a public appearance, he used his elemental powers to spread our slogans. For example, he might light a brazier and spell out “Gay Is Good” in tongues of flame; or form letters with tree roots that he drew up out of the soil; or leave messages in the surf by using water currents to re-arrange seashells. Stormy always made sure there were witnesses when he performed these miraculous feats!
He’d also use wind currents to send multi-color Gay Pride streamers gliding over the Hawaiian islands. It was Stormy’s own idea to give them a rainbow design so that they’d be more eye-catching. I believe he took the colors from Kauwani festival costumes; Basil would know for sure. In any case, we made the rainbow a Gay symbol long before Gilbert Baker sewed his first Gay Pride flag in 1978. I can’t prove that Baker knew about our streamers, but it’s certainly possible that he used them for inspiration.
These methods of communication were far more effective than if we’d distributed flyers or tacked up signs. Stormy got everybody talking about Gay Pride! “Who was that masked man?” “Why is he doing this?” “What do these messages mean?” A lot of the talk was negative, of course, but at least a discussion was going on. Nobody’s consciousness was going to be raised without a discussion! What’s more, he was giving food for thought to both Gay and Straight people. Challenging orthodox thinking is not just the best way to make inroads against bigotry; I’m convinced that it’s the only way!
Our efforts certainly didn't go unnoticed by the police; nor did Hawaii’s celebrity evangelist, Deacon Diamond fail to take notice. His anti-Gay sermons became more virulent than ever, and his Children’s Protection Committee declared The Great Defender “Public Enemy Number One”! The Deacon demanded that authorities apprehend "this costumed trickster” working on behalf of "sex perverts". Stormy had already become a target; not only were the police after him, the vigilantes were, too. They started carrying guns, which made his rescue missions far more dangerous.
He had to dodge vigilante gunfire more than once, but by the middle of 1943 Stormy had completely mastered the power of flight. He was more agile in mid-air than most birds, and I don’t believe he ever got hit. He claimed that a sniper did wound him once, but that the gods of Pajaro Island gave him the power to heal himself. I have to say that’s one power I never saw him demonstrate!
THE FIRST GAY RIGHTS DEMONSTRATION
But I did see him take full advantage of a power those gods hadn’t given him: His great charisma. Stormy used it to mesmerize audiences as a performer in my nightclub. He could also motivate Gay people to do things they never would’ve done otherwise. That charisma was on full display when he convinced several men to picket the Honolulu Induction Center.
The US military started banning Gay recruits for the first time during World War II, and that policy infuriated both Stormy and my brother. Together, they conceived a protest action that I helped to fine-tune. Here’s an FBI agent’s description of that now-forgotten demonstration, taken from Stormy’s declassified file and dated April 25, 1943:
On April 23rd at exactly 3:00 PM, approximately ten men converged on the US Army induction center at Fort DeRussy. These men were dressed as superheroes from children’s comic books: Captain America, The Sub-Mariner, The Angel and other such characters. However, one of them wore the costume of the so-called Great Defender, and is believed to have actually been that fugitive.
The Defender was seen distributing picket signs, which the men held as they walked parallel picket lines in single file. The signs were emblazoned with incendiary slogans such as “Gay Men Are Patriots” and “Uncle Sam Needs Gay Soldiers”. (The term “Gay” is confirmed as a reference to people with homosexual tendencies.) The men were heard chanting those slogans as well as “Gay is Good”. This bizarre spectacle completely disrupted Fort DeRussy’s normal operation. Traffic stopped and a large crowd of passersby gathered to watch.
A squadron of soldiers was immediately dispatched to the area but were unable to access it for several minutes; the squad leader later claimed that an unusually strong wind impeded their progress. The Defender stepped out of the picket line and in a high, feminine voice, he delivered a short speech which reiterated the printed slogans. Then he motioned for the picketers to break ranks, and according to multiple witnesses, the costumed men rose into the sky and flew away, much like the fictional characters they portrayed. This caused a great commotion among the crowd; but the squadron, no longer held back by the strange weather phenomenon, took control of the area. Within a matter of minutes, order was restored.
It took Stormy about a month to recruit the men who took part in this protest action. They were all self-identified Gay men. Obviously, they needed to conceal their identities and it was my idea to disguise them as comic book superheroes. Of course, Stormy was responsible for the unusual wind conditions that both stopped the soldiers’ advance and facilitated the picketers’ escape. As an agitprop tactic, the Fort DeRussy demonstration was brilliant; nobody who was there ever forgot it! That said, it didn’t have the lingering impact we had hoped for.
The “super-sodomites” story did blanket local news outlets, and it was the talk of the islands for days afterward. However, after an initial flurry of sensational press, authorities began promoting the idea that it was all just a publicity stunt. Supposedly, it was promotion for a movie that nobody ever heard of and which never got made! The news coverage abruptly stopped. Freddy thought the US military was responsible for that happening; the talking points probably originated with them, too. Whatever the case, that demonstration barely got reported outside of Hawaii.
THE RAID ON SPA TOBAHACHI
What did get reported was an incident that established Stormy once and for all as a fugitive from justice: The police raid on Spa Tobahachi in Waikiki. During the late 1930s and early ‘40s, this deluxe spa was a popular diversion for wealthy women in Honolulu. On Wednesday evenings, it was a haven for well-to-do Lesbians; they would often bring their working-class girlfriends as guests.
That could never have happened if Lesbians hadn’t predominated on the spa staff. They created a safe space where same-sex-loving women could come and “let our hair hang down”, as we used to say. I was a member of Spa Tobahachi, although discretion demanded that I mostly visit on other days of the week. For years, “Woman Wednesdays” were an open secret; heterosexual spa members didn’t seem to mind as long as the Gay girls kept to themselves.
There were the usual spa amenities but also an outdoor staging area. Music and dance performances were featured. They’d have arts presentations with thinly-veiled Lesbian content; I remember once attending a dramatic reading that celebrated the poet Sappho. Sometimes they’d even bring in progressive speakers to address the women as they sat poolside. In retrospect, it was all quite daring and I’m amazed that they got away with it for so long!
The closeted wife of a sugar cane baron acted as master of ceremonies. We knew about each other and had even dated briefly. I was talking to her one day in the summer of 1943 when she said: "Wouldn't it be grand if somehow we could get The Great Defender to come and address our Wednesday crowd?" I knew that such an appearance would be far too risky, but the idea stuck in my mind. I mentioned it to Stormy, who was still holding the occasional secret seminar. I told him that those free-spirited women would be a receptive audience for Gay Pride lectures, and I added that some of them were influential in their communities. But then I asked him: “Is it worth the risk?” Stormy decided that it was.
I anonymously put him in touch with the MC and together, they coordinated his guest appearance. It ended up being a combination lecture and dance recital; with a small retinue of Lesbian athletes, Stormy recreated some of the ritual dances that he’d learned on Pajaro Island. Snooks, the Parrot came along and performed tricks, much to the delight of the crowd. I chose not to attend, but I heard later that the event was packed to the rafters! Word of mouth had spread like wildfire, and there were women of all sexual orientations there. That, no doubt, is how news of The Great Defender’s appearance got leaked to the authorities.
What happened next has taken on legendary status over the years. It has come to be known as “Lesbian Stonewall” and it’s a source of pride for Gay Hawaiians of my generation. In Stormy’s FBI file, there’s a description of it; but I’m going to recall the event from his eyewitness account. He told it to me the very day it happened.
His presentation had barely ended when Snooks started to screech loudly. Then somebody yelled out that Spa Tobahachi was being raided. Minutes later, policemen swarmed the property and began arresting everybody! Pandemonium broke out: Dozens ran for the exits, fearing exposure as Lesbians; however, some of the younger, butch women stayed and fought back. Heroically, they restrained the policemen so that their femme lovers could escape!
At one point, butches had all the officers barricaded inside the spa. Stormy called out to them, saying that they could still escape and that he would clear a path. Then he used his elemental powers to cover their getaway.
As policemen exited the building and tried to pursue fleeing women, tornado-strength winds lifted and then slammed them to the ground! That was Stormy’s doing, but Snooks did her part, too: She flew in the officers’ faces and clawed their eyes! Between the two of them, nobody was detained.
EVERYBODY WANTS STORMY,
BUT WHO WILL GET HIM?
Several officers were injured, some seriously. Needless to say, that was the end of Spa Tobahachi: It got closed down amidst a huge scandal! The Great Defender’s role in the fracas wasn’t reported, though. He’d become a cult figure in Hawaii, so maybe the authorities were afraid news of his involvement would backfire on them; or maybe it was withheld for some other reason. But from then on, they officially considered Stormy a violent offender. Wanted posters went up throughout the islands, and police doubled down on efforts to apprehend him. Even worse, the Hawaiian legislature passed a resolution declaring "all homosexual persons" a danger to public safety!
It was such a travesty of justice: That Stormy Foster would become a fugitive while a real menace like Deacon Diamond walked free! Little did members of the Children’s Protection Committee know he was nothing but an Axis tool. His anti-Gay crusade was part of Adolph Hitler’s master plan to undermine American democracy from within. That’s confirmed by the most recent documents found in Stormy’s FBI file; but nearly a year would pass before the truth about Diamond Faws was revealed.
He was implementing an experiment designed to normalize Nazi doctrine inside the United States. Hawaiian Lesbians and Gay men were the guinea pigs for this experiment. Once we were fully demonized, Hawaiian Jews were going to be his next target; and when the Deacon was done stirring up bigotry in the islands, the plan called for him to expand the CPC’s influence to the mainland. Stormy learned of this plot during his final days on Pajaro Island.
So you see, he, Freddy, Basil and I weren’t just Gay activists. We were patriots, fighting for American freedom in our own way. It pissed me off that Deacon Diamond’s hateful sermonizing was sanctioned public speech, while saying something as benign as “Gay is Good” made us targets for arrest and imprisonment. When the Allies liberated Nazi concentration camps in 1945, only Jews, Gypsies and intellectuals were freed: they sent all the Gay prisoners to jail! Most people still don't know that. Both sides in the war regarded Lesbians and Gay men as criminals by default. I felt as if we were battling both sides, and often it was hard to tell which one hated us more.
You've just read Chapter Seven! Click below to read
Sixth chapter in the Stormy Foster saga
Then be sure to read
Eighth chapter in the Stormy Foster saga
Concept by HAMPTON JACOBS and PATTY BALL
Art by STUFFED ANIMAL
Costumes by HENRIETTA la del BARRIO
Project Assistance by RODERICK MACK and DAVE PEARSON
Text by HAMPTON JACOBS